


Captain Mabel's Boat Tour

by mintyleaves



Category: Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Awkwardness, Bisexuality, Boats and Ships, Boys In Love, Cliche, Developing Relationship, Dorks in Love, Fluff, I know nothing about sailing, M/M, Mild Language, Poetry, Questioning, Sailing, Self-Discovery, cliche but theyre on a boat, seagull choking on a hotdog, sorry if im inaccurate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 09:57:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13972608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintyleaves/pseuds/mintyleaves
Summary: Mabel the Love Expert is back at it again... this time setting up her brother with his fellow crew member, his former almost-boyfriend, Wirt.





	Captain Mabel's Boat Tour

"Ahoy Dipper my lad! Feast yer eyes on the S.S.S.S!" Mabel cried from the lower deck, her curls bouncing on her shoulders as she jumped up and down. 

A small smile spread on Dipper's lips. It was just like her to go all out and be so excited about something like this. She was even wearing a blue sailor costume complete with a hat and short striped skirt. She swiftly ran over to the boat entrance and extended her hand to Dipper.

"First of all, there’s only supposed to be 2 S’s and second, you're really taking this sailor thing seriously," Dipper commented, grabbing her hand and stepping onto the boat. The fresh water smellr wafted over Dipper as he drew in a deep breath and took off his backpack. It was a bright, warm, sunny day perfect for sailing. Above him, seagulls floated throughout the sky, filling the marina with noise. He fished out a pair of sunglasses from his bag and put them on. 

"It stands for Sailing Ship Shooting Star bro bro," Mabel explained. “Now just where is my other crew member?" She asked to herself, leaning over the rail of the boat. 

"Other crew member..?" Dipper asked quietly. He went through a list of people Mabel could’ve asked. After high school, the twins decided to move back to Gravity Falls and they managed to connect with all of their summertime friends. He was expecting Grenda or Candy but hopefully not Candy because he never really got over how she used to like him. Maybe Mabel even got Wendy to agree. 

He took a look at Mabel’s costume. Scratch that. Wendy would never agree.

Mabel didn't look over. "Yes other crew member. He was supposed to be here by now."

Dipper definitely noticed the use of he. That’s the thing... Dipper didn’t have many guy friends in Gravity Falls. Dipper groaned. “Mabel is this other crew member some boy you’re interested in?”

She tilted her head in a few more directions before turning around and making her way to the ship's lower hatch. "Something like that,” she dismissed. “While we wait you can get your costume on!" Mabel exclaimed, opening the hatchet and grabbing Dipper's backpack. She swung it over her shoulder in a swift motion then descended down the ladder and to the boat's lower level.

"Ugh. Mabel!" Dipper cried, following her down the ladder and meeting her in the first room on the left. She set his backpack on a hook next to two hangers covered in plastic dry cleaning bags.

"Mabel... You never said anything about costumes and I don’t think I can work with some random dude," Dipper complained, flipping up his sunglasses and crossing his arms.

“I think you might change your mind.” Mabel smiled defiantly at him and ripped the plastic covering off the hanger. She presented the costume to Dipper in a jazz-hands manner and wide smile. “Ta-da!”

Dipper groaned as his eyes ran over the sailor costume in front of him. Of course, it matched Mabel's. It was the same classic-sailor navy blue with a white tie. Mabel danced around it, picking up an extra sailor hat from a shelf and plopping it on top of Dipper's head. 

"Whaddaya think?" She asked, standing next to him with her eyes glued on the costume.

"I rather walk the plank," Dipper groaned.

"Arrgh! You know ye love it!" Mabel replied, elbowing him in the side. "Now get changed sailor! Your crew member should be here any moment," She said, turning out of the room and climbing up the ladder. 

Dipper's eyes scanned the costume. He bit his cheek and squinted his eyes. He didn't know who the other crew member was but judging by the second hanging bag, he had to wear it as well. Something fishy was going on and it wasn’t because of the lake. 

How Mabel got his exact size? Dipper will never know. His hands grasped the soft material of the tie, wrapping it around his neck then fastening it in a knot. Dipper decided that while he didn’t love it, it was undeniably comfy. That was a plus. He glanced in the mirror one last time before returning back up to the main deck. 

"Eek!" Mabel cried, startling Dipper who wasn't even completely out of the hatchet yet.  
Her long curls swayed behind her and she rushed over to her brother and stretched out her hand. "Let me see! Let me see!" She demanded, pulling him out of the hatch and stepping back to get a full look of him.

Mabel's eyes traveled over her brother as he stood there awkwardly. "I love it," she declared, smiling at him then turning on her heel and returning to the rail of the boat. 

"I don't," Dipper complained following her to her spot.

"Well why not? We look great and when my other crew member comes, we'll all match!" She exclaimed with a wide grin. 

Dipper leaned on the railing, looking out at the rock wall that separated the marina from the lake. "I look-" he stopped talking when he saw the other crew member walking along the deck.

The crew member stopped walking when he saw Dipper.

Dipper's jaw dropped.

No.

There is no way.

Mabel totally did not.

...She so totally did. 

"What?" She asked with a confused expression as she helped him up.

Wirt’s eyes met Dipper's and stayed there, only leaving to take in the sight of his costume. He didn’t say anything and it made Dipper blush uncomfortably. 

"Oopsie. I guess I forgot to mention that," she said to herself. "Dipper! Why don't you show Wirt the employee's room and help him get settled," Mabel suggested.

"Uh... Yeah, sure," Dipper muttered, finally speaking and breaking the awkward tension. "It's, uh, right down here." With a strong twist, Dipper opened the hatchet and climbed inside.

"So, uh, this is the employee's room," Dipper explained, unsure of what else Mabel wanted him to say. Wirt nodded, examining the room around him.

"And here is your uniform," Dipper says, holding up the second hanger and presenting it to Wirt.

"Oh I get a uniform too?" Wirt asked, taking the hanger from him. It was the first thing he said to Dipper.

"Yeah," Dipper mumbled.

"Huh," was all Wirt said before falling into silence again. 

"Right," Dipper said after a while. "I'm going to see if Mabel needs any help."

Wirt nodded.

Dipper climbed up out of the hatchet, unnoticed to Mabel, who was on the poop deck stacking crates. She wasn't doing a good job though. The crates kept sliding out of place due to the strong wind of the lake.

"Are those empty?" 

"Aye," Mabel replied, not looking up at Dipper.

"What are they for?" He asked as he peered inside one curiously.

"Yarr Dipper! Atmosphere!" Mabel exclaimed, getting frustrated with a crate that wasn't staying in place. "I'm about to throw these overboard."

"Why don't you put some weight in them?" Dipper asked as he placed a bag of fake, but still heavy, gems and jewelry.

He lifted the lid of the crate back on just as another particularly heavy gust of wind blew. The crate stayed perfectly in place. Dipper's hat, however, did not. The wind picked it up and tossed it the far end of the ship before throwing it over the side of the side of the boat and skittering down the dock.

Dipper blinked before turning to Mabel who was strangely not paying attention. "So how's it going with Wirt? Did you help him get into his uniform?" 

"No Mabel. I really can't believe you invited him along," Dipper responded, un-amused.

"Come onnnn Dipper! You act like it's taboo," Mabel said.

"What? Our relationship? As in Wirt and I's relationship? Between Wirt and I?" Dipper asked.

Mabel rolled her eyes. "You just don't want to admit that you need help from Mabel, the Love Expert!"

Dipper pinched the bridge of his nose. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could, Mabel had whisked him over to Wirt to go through the instructions. 

"Okay mateys, are you ready?" 

They shot each other a nervous glance before turning back to Mabel and nodding.

"Before I start collecting tickets up at the gate, let's walk through your duties," Mabel said, walking over to the side of the ship. "This is where the passengers get onto the ship," she pointed to a folded metal ramp on the edge of the dock. "You both can set up the ramp while I'm up at the gate."

"Um, is that safe?" Wirt asked quietly.

Mabel shrugged. "More or less," she said and moved on to the sails. "Once we're out on the water you both will raise these. After that, drinks then a fifteen minute break. Easy enough?" The two nodded and Mabel flashed a big smile. "Great. We have five minutes until the gates open. I'm going up now to talk with the passengers. You two..." Mabel looked between both of them and smiled. "Enjoy yourselves," she said and hopped off a rope down to the dock. 

Mabel strode down towards the gate, leaving a confused Wirt and an upset Dipper.

"That was... Odd," Wirt said awkwardly. 

Dipper only nodded.

"Should we set up the ramp..?" Wirt asked.

"Yeah," Dipper sighed.

The two climbed over the edge of the ship and got the metal ramp. It was heavy and when Dipper tried lifting it up, he wasn't sure why he thought it wouldn’t be. 

"Should we get Mabel?" Wirt offered, twirling his tie around his finger.

Dipper shook his head. "No. It's heavy but the both of us can get it," he said as he lifted one side of the ramp. Wirt followed along and lifted the other side. They slowly shuffled over to the edge of the ship, ramp clutched tightly in their hands.

If Mabel wasn't so destined on pushing Dipper and Wirt together, Wendy really would’ve been a better choice. 

They somehow managed to set up the ramp. Wirt studied it for a moment with a frown. He turned to Dipper. "I just realized how totally unqualified we are for this. I mean, Mabel didn't give us any prep or anything and we aren't the most," he did a flexing motion. "Guys."

Dipper chuckled. It was the first real sentence Wirt had said to him in about three months. There wasn’t really a word to describe their relationship. They were in that awkward I-like-you-and-you-might-like-me-but-I-don’t-really-know-if-i-swing-that-way-so-I’ll-just-friend zone-myself place. 

There was definitely a lot of history between them but to sum it up, at one point Wirt mentioned how he fell in love with the soul and not the body. Dipper thought about that a lot. When Wirt asked if Dipper would ever date a guy, he lied and he knew it. 

The moment “no” escaped his lips, Dipper knew he friend-zoned himself. Call it panic, call it denial, but that’s why he stopped talking to Wirt. 

Wirt didn’t know why he stopped talking to him and Dipper felt bad. Poor Wirt probably thought he dropped him because he was bi. In reality, it was because Dipper might be bi but the whole situation was so sticky it was easier for him to run than do anything about it.

... until Mabel made him.

Remind him never to trust her with his secrets ever again. Especially when it came to his love life.

“Yeah, this is what, my second time on a boat?” Dipper was thinking out loud.

“There’s a high chance this boat is going to sink.”

Dipper nodded. “I guess I’ll have to save you if that happens.”

“Are you qualified?” Wirt teased. They both laughed and some of their nerves melted away. Dipper missed laughing like this, like friends. He couldn’t help but curse himself for causing the tension between them.

A swoosh of wind whisked Wirt’s hat off. He tried to grab after it but gave up after it went over the rocks.

Dipper shrugged. “Mine’s gone too. Maybe if we’re lucky the wind will blow our uniforms away.”

Wirt laughed. “They’re not that bad. Kinda fashionable.”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “At least they’re comfy, I guess.”

“That’s the spirit!” Wirt punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Y’know, this might really be kinda fun.”

Dipper looked at him.

“I mean, we haven’t talked in months and things were weird but... we can go back to being friends, right?” He looked so hopeful.

Dipper was seasick. 

Wirt was fiddling with his tie.

The idea of being friends was nice. The idea of being more than that was... nicer? 

“I’d like that.”

Shit.

Dipper really did need help from Mabel the Love Expert. 

There was a stretch of time where they didn’t talk to each other. Passengers got on, Mabel somehow sailed them out into the middle of the lake, and drinks were served. 

“Thanks mateys. You ‘ave a 15 minute break. I’ll ring a bell,” Mabel whispered to them before telling the passengers to get out their cameras and look for some rare creature. 

Wirt climbed down the hatchet. As Dipper followed, he seriously wondered when Mabel learned to sail a boat.

“How are you doing?” Wirt asked, ducking into the employees’ room and sitting on a chest that happened to be the only piece of furniture in there. So Mabel could splurge on crates and props but not furnish the employees’ room? He shook his head.

“I’m weak,” Dipper huffed. “And totally not cut out for this.” He sat next to Wirt on the chest. 

“Me neither. But at least we’re together,” he smiled.

Despite the feeling of being punched in the gut, Dipper smiled back. “I was almost afraid Mabel was going to stick me with her friend who likes me.”

Wirt looked confused. “I like you.”

Dipper shook his head. “No like... as more than a friend.”

Wirt frowned. “Do you... not like her?” 

Dipper itched his neck. “Uhhh not like that. My love life is kinda complicated right now but, how’s yours going?” He asked.

Wirt looked at the floor. “Complicated.” He shuffled his feet.

There were four things in the room with them, the hooks for their bags, the chest they were sitting on, a mirror, and a bell connected to a string in the corner. It was... sad. 

Dipper got up and reached into his bag. He pulled out a PitCola. “I don’t have two so we’ll have to share. But a toast, to us and whatever is going on in our love lives.” 

“Here here.”

He took a sip and passed it to Wirt. “I’m... sorry I stopped talking to you.” Dipper said quietly.

“Why did you?”

He fidgeted with his tie. “It’s confusing, but I was forgetting who I was and I needed some time to find myself.”

Wirt turned his gaze to Dipper. His head was tilted to the side and he didn’t seem mad. Instead, he seemed proud? 

“Did you find yourself?”

That was the million dollar question. “Yeah,” Dipper said. It didn’t feel like a lie. “I think so.”

Wirt nodded. “I’m not happy that you disappeared on me but I’m happy you’re back and I’m happy you got some stuff cleared up.” He smiled reassuringly.

“Thanks.”

Wirt nodded. They found themselves settling back into silence. And it was real silence this time, no birds, no purr of the boat slicing through the water. It was quiet as the room rocked smoothly. It wasn’t much, just the gentle sway that occasionally bumped their shoulders together. 

Each bump brought Dipper deeper and deeper into thought.

Wirt finally fished him back with a soft mumble. “The waves, be they soft and subtle, leave me engulfed without my love to save me from the dark below.”

Dipper knew Wirt spewed poetry and Dipper knew how Wirt was too shy to recite anything around anyone else. He usually did longer verses than that, but at the moment, it was warming him to know that they still had that connection. 

“Lovesick or seasick?” Dipper joked.

Wirt smiled. “Lovesick.”

“Me too.”

The conversation faded.

Their shoulders bumped. 

“Do you feel that?” Wirt asked. He turned to Dipper and licked his lips.

“Our shoulders?”

“Everything around them.”

“Our arms?”

“No, I mean...” Wirt brought his eyes down nervously. He rested his hand on Dipper’s thigh. He was going to be sick. It wasn’t because of the sea. “...that.”

As crazy as it sounded, Dipper knew what he was talking about. It was the way Wirt lit up everything. It was how addicting Wirt was and how Dipper was just... drawn to him. Wirt made him afraid. Dipper had never been afraid like that. With the fear came the insecurity and vulnerability that made Dipper run in the first place. 

All of it came through Wirt, who was sitting here next to him with his hand on Dipper’s thigh and his eyes full of something hopeful and genuine.

Dipper wanted to kiss him. He wanted to know how it felt to feel Wirt. To feel his lips as they connected with his and softly formed a smile. But he wanted to know how it would feel. Some people said sparks fly when you’re kissing the right person. Dipper wanted to feel the sparks he got from Wirt’s touch magnified. He wondered if kissing was more like flying. He wanted to touch the clouds. 

“I’m sorry,” Wirt finally said, breaking the long gaze between the two. 

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” Wirt repeated. His face was heating up. “For coming on to you.”

“What?” Dipper knew what Wirt was saying. He just didn’t know why he was saying it.

“I know you’re straight. You told me. I’m not just going to forget something like that,” he was talking so quick it was hard to understand.

Dipper wanted to punch himself in the gut. 

“But I think about you a lot Dipper and I think about how I just want to be with you. I’m not going to chase after you in hopes that you’ll turn gay or anything but I like to imagine and that actually kinda sounds sad now that I say it out loud but I really think about being with you, Dipper. Call me crazy, you probably already do, but I feel something. It might not be romantic but I know you felt it just now. There’s something between us,”

Through the slur of words spun by Wirt, there was the chime of a bell.

Dipper looked at him. He was wringing his hands along his tie. “We’ll talk when we get back to the dock.”

Wirt bobbed his head in a short nod.

The first thing Dipper saw when he climbed onto the deck was Mabel’s cheeky grin. “Enjoy yer brake mateys?” 

He shot her a look, not saying anything. 

On the trip back to the dock, Dipper was anxious. Wirt was too, judging by his constant fidgeting. Leave it to Mabel to somehow keep up her cheery act, even though she could tell there was something up. 

The last costumer, a young woman with curly brown hair, stepped off the boat after leaving Mabel a tip. “Thank Ye.”

The moment she walked out of hearing, Mabel turned to her crew members. “What’s the deal? Why are you guys so quiet all of a sudden?”

Wirt looked as pale as the seagull walking along the dock and picking at a leftover hot dog. “I’m going to go change,” he muttered, looking down.

Mabel looked to Dipper. She looked genuinely worried and her brown eyes were so big and glossy it looked like she was going to cry. “Did I do something wrong?” Mabel asked, bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

“No, Mabel of course not.” He hugged her and buried his face in her soft hair. “It’s my fault I just need to talk to him.”

Mabel nodded but she didn’t look so sure. 

Dipper walked in just to catch the last moment of Wirt tying his sweater around his neck. He couldn’t ignore the deer-in-headlights look Wirt gave him when he walked in. 

Dipper frowned. “Wirt, please don’t jump to any conclusions, I really want to talk with you because things were so great a few minutes ago.”

Wirt picked up his bag. “I’ll wait for you.”

Dipper changed out of his sailor costume and slipped on his shirt and shorts. He grabbed his sunglasses off the shelf, propped them on his head, and climbed up the ladder.

Wirt stayed. He was leaning over the edge of the boat, looking down at the fish. Dipper walked up next to him.

“I’m sorry, Wirt,” Dipper said softly. “I send so many mixed-signals because I don’t even know what I want. But I found myself three months later and I found myself coming to the same conclusion I did when I was with you.” He licked his lips. “I’m not gay. I don’t find guys attractive like I find girls attractive. That’s not a lie. But when I told you I wouldn’t date a guy... that was a lie because I’d date you.” Dipper knew what he was trying to say, he was just looking for the right words.

In the meantime, Wirt spoke up. “Are you... calling me a girl?” 

“No no no,” Dipper said quickly. “Bear with me while I try to explain this. I’m not interested in guys. If I was looking to hookup with someone, it would be a girl. I’m not gonna go around looking for a boyfriend. So I’m not gay because I wouldn’t date guys.” He took a pause to kick himself for how cliche this was about to sound. “I know you’re a guy, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’d date you anyways because...” 

Dipper rested his rand on Wirt’s. Wirt turned to him but he stared intently at the dozens of fish swimming barely under the surface. 

“I feel it too. I feel that attraction. I’m attracted to you, Wirt. Just you.”

A lock of Wirt’s hair fell into his face by the sweep of a gentle breeze. It didn’t seem to bother him as he kept looking out onto the lake. 

Dipper was waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, his eyes caught on to a seagull on the dock consuming a hotdog. 

Wirt finally spoke up. His voice was soft, quiet, and kind of hard to hear through the sounds of the marina. “I guess that makes you heteroflexible then.” He finally turned to Dipper.

“I… guess so,” Dipper said carefully. His hand was still on Wirt’s and he didn’t know if he was supposed to move it or not because now things felt kind of awkward between them.  
He nodded. “Good to know.”

Things were quiet again, well except for the shrieking of seagulls fighting over the hot dog on the dock.

He finally snapped. “Do you wanna get lunch together?”

“Oh,” Wirt stammered. “Yeah, sure.”

“I mean as a date.” Dipper clarified.

“Oh. I… I’d like that.” 

Dipper smiled with relief. “Cool.”

Mabel was on the shore of the marina when they walked up. She was biting her thumb nervously and leaning against a pillar. She was still in her sailor costume, which was attracting a few stray looks from strangers. 

“Hey…”

“We’re going out to lunch,” Dipper said.

“Oh okay, cool, where are we going?” She asked.

“As a date, Mabel.” He clarified. 

She looked hurt and dejected. She blinked a couple of times and frowned. Then something in her head clicked once she understood what her twin just implied. Mabel grinned and brought them into a big hug. “You guys! I knew you were perfect together!” She finally lets go for a moment to pat herself on the back. “What can I say? Mabel, the Love Expert, does it again.”

“Uh, right, well we’re going to…” Wirt motioned awkwardly to main street, which was alive with noon shoppers and people out to lunch.

“Right… well,” she elbowed Dipper in the rib. He didn’t know if that was supposed to be a hint or something but it really hurt. “Have a nice time.”

“Ow.”

“Thanks, Mabel,” Wirt said, leading a sore Dipper away. “See you later.”

They walked past an array of shops, cafes, and businesses before stopping at a particular cafe with large red lobsters on display. “Feeling seafood?”

Wirt rolled his eyes. “Haha.” 

They kept walking for a bit, enjoying the liveliness of the town, the warm sunshine and the breeze that wasn’t as strong now that they weren’t by the lake. “Y’know, as much as Mabel needs to stop meddling in my relationships,” Dipper’s hand found Wirt’s. “I’m glad she made us crewmates.”

Wirt turned to Dipper and smiled. “Yeah, I am too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! kudos make me smile, comments make my day x


End file.
